Several homeless fairy tale characters surrounded Shrek during a scene in the Orange City Tulip Festival's Night Show, "Shrek the Musical," at the Knight Center at Unity Christian High School in Orange City, Iowa, in May 2017.

Debt on the $5.6-million Knight Center at Unity Christian in Orange City, Iowa, was retired this week, according to Wayne Dykstra, high school principal. The state-of-the-art theater seats 744 people and, via 28E agreement, is used by the community as well as the private school.

John Hubers played Lord Farquaad in the Orange City Tulip Festival's Night Show production of "Shrek the Musical," which was staged in the Knight Center on the campus of Unity Christian High School in Orange City, Iowa, in May 2017.

Debt on the $5.6-million Knight Center at Unity Christian in Orange City, Iowa, was retired this week, according to Wayne Dykstra, high school principal. The state-of-the-art theater seats 744 people and, via 28E agreement, is used by the community as well as the private school.

Shows go on -- as curtain closes on debt -- at Unity's Knight Center

Several homeless fairy tale characters surrounded Shrek during a scene in the Orange City Tulip Festival's Night Show, "Shrek the Musical," at the Knight Center at Unity Christian High School in Orange City, Iowa, in May 2017.

ORANGE CITY, Iowa | Unity Christian High School Principal Wayne Dykstra opened the mail on Tuesday. He found two more checks, gifts to help the private school retire the debt for the Knight Center.

The 744-seat auditorium, constructed over a 16-month period in 2013-14, cost $5.6 million. And in 4 1/2 years, the debt has been paid.

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Debt on the $5.6-million Knight Center at Unity Christian in Orange City, Iowa, was retired this week, according to Wayne Dykstra, high school principal. The state-of-the-art theater seats 744 people and, via 28E agreement, is used by the community as well as the private school.

"We have a 5-year interest arrangement with Iowa State Bank," said Dykstra. "The interest was at 3 percent and then it climbed to 4 percent, then to 5 percent. If we still owed money, we would have had to renegotiate with the bank going into year six. We wanted to get this done."

And, with Tuesday's mail, it was. Three to four checks had come in the mail each day.

How a smaller private school that can't rely on property taxes or a bond issue raises that kind cash in a short time span is worthy of some spotlight attention. Dykstra shared the story on how the Knight Center, this state-of-the-art theater serving Unity Christian High School, Orange City and the Orange City Tulip Festival Night Show, came into being.

The community of Orange City, he was quick to add, contributed $750,000 to the effort and uses the Knight Center to stage the popular Orange City Tulip Festival Night Show each May. "Shrek the Musical" was staged last spring, welcoming thousands to its song and pageantry. The Orange City Arts Council also uses the site from time to time, as do churches for select shared services. There are also private events held in the facility, events booked by Unity Christian.

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John Hubers played Lord Farquaad in the Orange City Tulip Festival's Night Show production of "Shrek the Musical," which was staged in the Knight Center on the campus of Unity Christian High School in Orange City, Iowa, in May 2017.

To get the campaign going initially, leaders at this school wrote letters to potential givers each year over several years. When the campaign stalled about seven years ago or so, directors organized a seat-sponsor event whereupon donors were challenged to purchase a seat in the facility. One night, Dykstra said, donors gave $350,000 for their seats.

"And the following week, we sold the remaining seats pretty quickly," Dykstra said. "I remember that from March to June that year (six or so years ago), we raised $750,000 and that convinced us we could build this thing."

When the ribbon was cut to formally open the Knight Center, Unity Christian had all but $1.6 million of the project paid in full. The remaining balance was contained in that loan at Iowa State Bank. In the course of 4 1/2 years, that balance was paid down to $13,000, according to Dykstra.

"This past year, we were down to $500,000 and we wondered if we could get a matching challenge among nine donors," he said. "We went to them and asked and 100 percent of them said, 'Yes.'"

Those donors gave a collective quarter-million dollars, an amount that was then matched by the Unity Christian constituency.

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Debt on the $5.6-million Knight Center at Unity Christian in Orange City, Iowa, was retired this week, according to Wayne Dykstra, high school principal. The state-of-the-art theater seats 744 people and, via 28E agreement, is used by the community as well as the private school.

2018 Night Show

The Orange City Tulip Festival Night Show, "Beauty and the Beast," will be staged at the Knight Center at Unity Christian High School in Orange City, Iowa, on May 15-19. This spring marks the 78th annual celebration of the Orange City Tulip Festival.